Class app: ReachMyTeach wins $25K Top Gun prize
Photo / Dave Dostie
From left, the ReachMyTeach team Helen Cohen, Aidan Blum Levine and Jeff Borland with the $25,000 Top Gun prize.
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ReachMyTeach, an app that connects teachers with students and families, was crowned the winner of the Top Gun business-pitch contest in Portland last Thursday.
The Top Gun Showcase capped the inaugural Maine Entrepreneurs Summit hosted by the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs for a day of learning, connecting and celebrating entrepreneurs.
ReachMyTeach was developed by Helen Cohen, Jeff Borland and Aidan Blum Levine, who are based in Portland. The team beat contestants from five other startups in a live pitch contest before a panel of judges and an audience of 250 people at the University of Southern Maine's Hannaford Hall in Portland.
“What an exhilarating day supporting and celebrating Maine entrepreneurship,” said Laurie Johnson, Top Gun's program manager.
Other finalists that squared off on stage included:
- Waterville Top Gun cohort members awen (Brinn Flagg), a provider of educational and counseling service for friends, partners and parents of individuals with substance abuse disorder;
- Artisanal bread maker Hootenanny Bread (Derek DeGeer);
- Lewiston-Auburn area cohort members Shred Electric (Nick Planson), a designer and seller of electric off-road vehicles and boats all using the same rechargeable battery
- Sleep NP (Carrissa Hankins), a provider of CPAP coaching services;
- From Top Gun's Portland cohort, Tootie’s Tempeh (Sarah Speare), a Biddeford producer of organic tempeh, a plant-based protein.
Judges assessed business pitches in terms of scalability, feasibility, innovation and presentation before awarding top honors to ReachMyTeach.
Far-reaching impact
The Top Gun Showcase is the culmination of a 15-week program for competitively selected entrepreneurs that combines mentoring with high-impact weekly gatherings statewide.
Since 2009, the Maine Center for Entrepreneurs' Top Gun program has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs take their businesses to the next level. The $25,000 Top Gun prize was sponsored by the Maine Technology Institute.
Maine Entrepreneurs Summit sponsors include: Norway Savings Bank; FocusMaine; Bank of America; Opus Consulting; the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development; Finance Authority of Maine; Maine Angels; and the Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership.
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